Staff Online Application

Staff Online Application

Here’s the online employment application for High Trails Outdoor Science School, a little slice of outdoor education in the mountains of Southern Caliornia. Are you looking for the RN application? It’s right here…Nurse Online Application Right Here

The Basics

YOUR Name

Email address(required)

We have 3 staff trainings during the school year: September is our largest training, with smaller trainings occurring in January and March as staffing needs dictate. It's also possible, that with the right person, we have a spot open right now. So....

When do you want to start working here?

Reference and Contact Information

We'll take this information and contact your references, giving them a link to an online form they can fill out to tell us all about you. If you choose to use a Letter of Reference that someone has already written for you, please include this when you submit your Resume and Cover Letter. Please Note: one of the first things we do is compare your recent job history to your list of references. Ideally, your recent supervisor is listed so we can get their impression of you in a workplace setting. If you don't list a reference for recent jobs, don't be surprised if we track them down ourselves.
By filling out the below information, you agree to the following: "I authorize my references to provide High Trails with information requested in this form. I release my former employer and all persons whomever from liability regarding the furnishing of said information."

Reference #1

Relationship

Telephone

Email

Reference #2

Relationship

Telephone

Email

Reference #3

Relationship

Telephone

Email

Kid Question

It’s always easier working with kids when you start a job and everything is fresh; you’re full of energy and excited, and the students respond wonderfully to this. Over time, this job gets tough…even though there are new kids each week, you’re teaching the same classes every week and it’s easy to fall into a rut. How do you keep yourself motivated and excited? How do you teach good classes and truly invest in your students week after week?

Community Question

Working here means being very close to 15-25 other staff members, day after day. A strong community makes it easy for instructors to come into work and do an incredible job. We want a community where everyone feels welcomed, accepted, and included by both returning and new staff. We also hope, that as the year progresses, people do their best to address problems and hold each other accountable in positive ways instead of reverting to tactics like talking behind others’ backs. We do our best to empower the staff, and encourage them to create and maintain this kind of community. How will you handle this kind of responsibility? How will you hold your peers accountable? How can we help you with this responsibility?

Professionalism Question

What helps us to stand apart from other outdoor science schools in our area is the level of professionalism that we demand from our staff. We insist that you have an attitude and an approach to your job that is characterized by intelligence, integrity, maturity, and thoughtfulness. We are, however, a camp, where we encourage you to be goofy and silly and to have ridiculous amounts of fun. What side do you lean more towards? How will you walk this fine line, making certain to balance both professionalism and fun?

Solution Question

Though we may aspire to it, High Trails does not run flawlessly and there are many things wrong with it. Every year staff point this out; we, in turn, continue with our theme of empowerment and encourage them, along with our help and support, to find solutions. After all; anyone can complain, but few people can fix. How comfortable will you be in an environment where you may have to work towards the solutions that make camp a better place for both students and staff? Do you have the initiative and follow through to see a problem and then fix it?

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And that's it. Double check everything. Then click the Submit button below. We should get this right away, and we'll do our best to get back to you within 48 hours (give us a bit more if you send this on a Friday night...). Feel free to follow up with an email if you have more questions. Thanks for applying...really. Now go do something outside.

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The Three Questions: a book review - Malcom Moniz
Providing Important Answers to the Important Questions for the Youth
The Three Questions is a marvelous adaptation of a story originally written by Leo Tolstoy of the same name. Jon J. Muth takes the wheel,...
Water: A Natural History - book review by Ikwe Mennen
Water: A Natural History, by Alice Outwater, is a thorough guide to how humans have dismantled the fragile water systems of the land, and has added so much more depth to my Water Wonders...
The Mountain Between Mistakes and Surviving - Sarah Beery
Let me start by saying *SPOILER ALERTS* ahead.
The Mountain Between Us is an adventure movie released in October 2017. The movie begins its journey when two strangers discover they are both in need of...
One Strange Rock: A Media Review - Allison Hanson
One Strange Rock is a ten-episode docuseries hosted by actor Will Smith that tells the stories of the planet Earth. It has beautiful imagery that entices the viewer, and interviews with astronauts about their...
How Plants Can Be Medicine - Canot Walker
High Trails is located at 7000 feet in the San Bernardino Mountain Range, and one of the first topics we learn about in Team Discovery Hike is who lived here before us. The Yuhaviatam...
Mars InSight Lander - Karen Solange Fraser
Mars’ latest lander, InSight, launched in May 2018 and landed in November 2018. At approximately 5 feet long and 20 feet wide, it features two solar panels, two cameras, and three scientific instruments with...
Self-Efficacy on the Adventure Course - Jay Callahan
“Why on Earth do you think,” I love to ask of students, “do we solve team puzzles at Science School?”
There is no right answer. Their answers run the gamut. “To know how to communicate...
Student Success at Cerritos Elementary - Ikwe Mennen
November 26, 2018. Cerritos Elementary: a sunny and clean school with the typical Californian outdoor-facing classrooms and open-air cafeteria. The plants are well-manicured and uniform, well-behaved inside their brick borders. I try to imagine...
Paddling Through Labyrinth Canyon - Shannon Pappas
One of the perks of High Trails is that we run on a normal school schedule. When it was our time to have Spring Break, twelve of us banded together and drove 9.5 hours...
Seed Dispersal of the Black Oak - Davíd Valencia
Did you know that one of the largest populations of all Black Oak trees in southern California is in the San Bernardino National Forest? [1. Tyler, Claudia M., et al. “Demography and Recruitment Limitations...
Planet Walker: A Book Review - Brad Brainard
Have you ever felt small in comparison to the growing problems we face as a society?
As one person trying to make a difference on this planet there is not a lot that can be...
Meru: a film review – Grace Kim
In Northern India, stationed unassumingly over the sacred headwaters of the Ganges River, stands the Shark’s Fin on Mount Meru. This particular piece of mountain has witnessed more failed summit attempts by elite climbing...
A Snowy Glory Ridge Trail – Hannah Livezey
Don't always trust alltrails.com...
Trail Name: Glory Ridge Trail
Forest Service Designation: 2N15 (See picture below. Route described is actually a non-system route. Glory Ridge Trail is 1W02).
Total Distance: 1.7 miles (with...
Contour vs Downy Feathers – Frazer Winsted
It is the middle of Feathered Friends class. After discussing that there are multiple feathers on a bird consisting of contour and downy feathers, one of my students says: “Mr. Frazer, what is the...
Non-flowering Plant Reproduction: Conifers – Ryne Tobar
Of the classes I get to teach at High Trails, my favorite is Plant Detectives. Plants are incredible organisms.
While they might be immobile, plants are able to propagate, or reproduce, far beyond their immediate...
Plastic is the New Black – Lillian Johnson
Do you know what you're wearing? When discussing the natural origin of materials with students, discovering that plastics are typically made from crude oil – the same fossil fuel used to power our cars...
The Power of Moments: Book Review – Suzanne Bosman
If there was one sentence you could say to someone that would make their day brighter, would you make a point of saying it? Would you take thirty seconds to organize your field group...
Blackfish: a film review -- Shannon Pappas
How should YOU feel about SeaWorld?
The documentary, Blackfish, was released in 2013. It explores the life of Tilikum, a performing orca that had killed two trainers and one civilian in his lifetime. The film,...
Morphology Makes You a Science Wizard - Jenna Ikwe Mennen
“Who knows one characteristic of a mammal?” says every High Trails instructor, once a week.
“Warm-blooded!” answers an eager student, remembering to raise their hand only after already blurting out the words. Now, how do...
Purpose of Pupils - Allison Hanson
Over the summer, I went hiking with some students at summer camp. On the trail, we ran into a woman taking her goats out for a walk. Yes, GOATS. Goats are great. I was...

Teaching Techniques

Don’t Rain on My Parade! Shannon Diaz
Have you ever had to teach students while outside in the rain or snow ?
Here at High Trails, we hike and teach our students in three different seasons with all sorts of weather. Whether...
Trail Games #1- Kyle O'Dea
So what do you do while hiking with a large group of students through the forest? Play games of course!
Here at High Trails Outdoor Science School we have an arsenal of games...
Morphology Makes You a Science Wizard - Jenna Ikwe Mennen
“Who knows one characteristic of a mammal?” says every High Trails instructor, once a week.
“Warm-blooded!” answers an eager student, remembering to raise their hand only after already blurting out the words. Now, how do...
Guided Questioning: Turning Wah into Wow - Mark Kerstens
Ever have a cool fact, idea, or concept that comes up as you hike that you want to share with the students? These teachable moments happen all the time, and are a great way...
Props: Can’t live with them, can’t live without them… Shane Hyre
If you talk to anyone in the outdoor education business – talk about props. Talk about the rubber chickens, the stuffed animals, the rope, the spots, the foam thingies… props have been the underestimated...
Ode to Button-Pushers - Alex Rice
Do you know the student who throws a stick when their instructor isn’t looking? The one who goes past the boundary their teacher very explicitly creates or breaks the rule that was thoroughly reviewed...
Toothpaste: Show Don't Tell - Kelsey Wentling
Once inside the cabin, everyone shivers off their jackets and eagerly starts buzzing around the warm haven: home for the next three or four nights.
Soon after, buzzing turns to chatting and not far off...
Why We Lorax - Penelope Burgess
“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it’s not.” –Dr. Seuss
What is The Lorax?
Every Friday morning at High Trails Outdoor Science School, groups of 40-120 5th...
Frontloading and Debriefing - Shannon Diaz
“On your mark, get set, go!”
“Huh? I don’t even know what we’re playing!”
Have you ever tried playing a game or doing an activity that wasn’t explained completely or didn't make sense to you? This...
American Sign Language in Science - Sarah Beery
How do you teach science to a deaf student if sign language doesn't have a way to sign the word?
Science is its own language with all the varying terms ranging from photosynthesis to camouflage...
Growth Mindset - Alicia Imbrogna
Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard. -Tim Notke
How many times in your life have you encountered a situation that was frustrating or annoying and often appeared too difficult to overcome?...
Flip Distractions into Discussions: Verbal Jiu-Jitsu- Alex Eisenreich
You are a Teacher. So you probably know that Random Tangent Student.
The one that takes extra prompting to engage in class; the one that needs redirection to stay on task; the one who doesn’t...
“Whatever GRABBSS their attention...” - Shane Hyre
Team Discovery Hike: it's the first activity you do with your field group on their first day at High Trails. It's time for the group to discover who you are, where they are, and...
Analogies are to Teachers as Utility Belt is to Batman - Hollyann Duskin
A streak of light burns bright and brief across the night sky. A collective gasp comes from the group of students huddled in the darkness as they exclaim, “a shooting star!”
As we discuss that...
Scientific Method in Everything - Leslie Urban
In sixth grade I remember losing a spelling bee because I did not know how to spell ‘hypothesis’.
Our science teacher, Ms. Miers, had spent the entire fall semester pounding the Scientific Method into our...
Your Name? I Don't Have A Clue - Haley Cushing
Instructor: “Ok, who can tell me an example of a renewable resource?”
Unnamed Student Raises Hand. Your mind goes blank. You look down at your attendance sheet. Back at the student. Back at the attendance...
Improv-ing Education - Cass Language
Friday afternoon— busses are delayed due to snow, and you find yourself with 15 students for an hour longer than you expected. Or maybe your boss tells you to lead a 10 minute activity...
Teaching with Music - Jordan Rowell
"Alright class, it’s time to earn our beads for our Furry Friends class. Let’s review what you can remember about adaptations of mammals. John, tell me at least one characteristic of a mammal?"
Uhhh….
Uhhh oh...
3,2,1, Bonus Point! Caroline Blake
“Single file line in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1,”
This is what I shout to my students within the first 5 minutes of their arrival. The kids scurry to get into the best line that...
Building Communities - Jess Fangman
“This needs to come from your heart,” I said in a soft tone.
I watched anxiously as 12 different sets of eyes peered back at me in puzzlement. I had asked my cabin group of...
A Unique Class is a Memorable Class - Paul Adams
A few weeks ago, I was attending a music festival in Santa Barbara. As I was walking around the camp ground, I met a man named Brian who invited me into his camp. We...
My Former Self - Shannon Diaz
Have you ever thought back to when you were in fifth grade? What was the world like for you then? I remember when I was in fifth grade, and getting ready to go to...
Why Visit A Classroom? Tamara Perreault
Working at High Trails, I quickly became a proponent of teaching outside. There are a lot of clear benefits. In California, class size is almost always 20 or more, but our groups are rarely...
Home - Tamara Perreault
What makes a place a home?
This can be a tough question. Think about it for a moment. When you say, “I feel like I’m at home” what makes you feel that way? 2,000 years...
Science Fiction Is a Teaching Tool - Jake Sheaffer
As instructors at High Trails we are constantly trying to relate the material that we teach back to the student’s daily lives. Sometimes this is difficult, because not all students understand why topics...

Class Content

How Plants Can Be Medicine - Canot Walker
High Trails is located at 7000 feet in the San Bernardino Mountain Range, and one of the first topics we learn about in Team Discovery Hike is who lived here before us. The Yuhaviatam...
Mars InSight Lander - Karen Solange Fraser
Mars’ latest lander, InSight, launched in May 2018 and landed in November 2018. At approximately 5 feet long and 20 feet wide, it features two solar panels, two cameras, and three scientific instruments with...
Snake Reproduction - Mallory Schmackpfeffer
When we talk about snakes, the assumption that we make is that all snakes reproduce by laying eggs, but that’s only part of the story! The truth is that only 70% of snakes lay...
Seed Dispersal of the Black Oak - Davíd Valencia
Did you know that one of the largest populations of all Black Oak trees in southern California is in the San Bernardino National Forest? [1. Tyler, Claudia M., et al. “Demography and Recruitment Limitations...
Contour vs Downy Feathers – Frazer Winsted
It is the middle of Feathered Friends class. After discussing that there are multiple feathers on a bird consisting of contour and downy feathers, one of my students says: “Mr. Frazer, what is the...
Non-flowering Plant Reproduction: Conifers – Ryne Tobar
Of the classes I get to teach at High Trails, my favorite is Plant Detectives. Plants are incredible organisms.
While they might be immobile, plants are able to propagate, or reproduce, far beyond their immediate...
Plastic is the New Black – Lillian Johnson
Do you know what you're wearing? When discussing the natural origin of materials with students, discovering that plastics are typically made from crude oil – the same fossil fuel used to power our cars...
Benefits of Rock Climbing - Peter Le
People ask me if climbing is a good way to stay in shape; I tell them I stay in shape to be good at climbing!
Why do people climb? That is the question all instructors...
Purpose of Pupils - Allison Hanson
Over the summer, I went hiking with some students at summer camp. On the trail, we ran into a woman taking her goats out for a walk. Yes, GOATS. Goats are great. I was...
Over the Moon...Cycle - Suzanne Bosman
“The common theme of calendar making is the desire to organize units of time to satisfy the needs and preoccupations of society. In addition to serving practical purposes, the process of organization provides a...
Outdoor Education & Line Dancing - Jade Koenigs
When I say the words “Line Dancing”, the faces of my students scrunch up into a mixture of emotions.
Some voice excitement, some voice disgust, but most faces bare the unmistakable feeling of apprehension, scared...
Where Have All The Monarchs Gone? - Melissa Mercier
Monarch butterflies are amazing insects; they can change from caterpillar to beautiful winged creatures! What you may not know is they perform a second and equally amazing feat...
Monarch butterflies perform a four generation long...
Can A Formula Predict Floods? - Anne Sweney
“From where we stand the rain seems random. If we could stand somewhere else, we would see the order in it.” –Tony Hillerman
For people living in climates that are dry and arid, understanding the...
Steller’s Jays: The birds you hate to love - Shannon Pappas
When I say that I don’t always like Steller’s Jays, my students are always shocked.
I, of course, understand where they are coming from. I remember when I first came to these mountains and was...
We Don’t Need No GPS! Brad Brainard
The day is September 11th, 2014. I am standing face to face with a weathered and worn wooden sign on the top of a mountain in the middle of Maine. The sign reads, in...
Diggin Deep into the world of the Thatch-Mound Ant - Kyle W. Gray
What is that mound thing?
When sauntering about in the San Bernardino National Forest you may notice large mounds or domes made of grass, leaves, pine needles, and numerous other plant materials. What exactly are...
Replenishing the Water Cycle - Kevin Williams
Did you know the scientific term for the water cycle is the hydrologic cycle?
I was on a hike the other day and thought about the apple activity I do during our Water Wonders class...
Bird Sounds of Spring - Danny Walden
Spring is here, and it's an exciting time! Our bird friends in the San Bernardino mountains begin to sing, and these year-round populations are complemented by a whole new host of migrants. To many...
The Spirits of the Water: Loons - AleXANdra Barteldt
There is a loonie legend about a small lake in rural Maine named Flying Pond.
As the story goes, the Native Americans of the region returned to the northern lakes every season for fishing...
Archery in North America - Hannah Livezey
As staff members at High Trails, we are offered opportunities to visit other outdoor schools and exchange ideas with others in the outdoor field with hopes to deliver the best possible curriculum to the...
Speak Like A Yuhaviaatam - Ikwe Mennen
You're staying in the Condor cabin? I think you mean Qwat cabin!
Yuhaviaatam means “people of the pines” in their own language. They are the native peoples who lived on top of our mountain, in...
Welcome to Subirdia: Book Review - Mark Kerstens
Ever wonder how our ever growing suburbanization and development affects wildlife populations? Have you heard that urban development is exclusively bad for bird populations? I thought so, too, until I read Welcome to Subirdia...
Rock Climber or Amateur Geologist? - Michael Perez
Is igneous bliss or are all the little sediments of rock knowledge metamorphosing climbers into rock experts? Ha!
As rock climbers, we experience many different types of rocks when we go to climb at various...
Bald Eagles and Their Comeback! Brandon Bortzer
In 1963, scientists estimated a total of just 417 nesting pairs of bald eagles survived in the lower 48 states.
The emblem of the United States since 1782 and the only eagle endemic to North...
Magnetic North - Lauren Elysée Stansbury
Here’s a riddle: A young explorer finds a map of a buried treasure. With compass in hand, the explorer takes a perfect reading and travels for 5 miles through the wilderness. Upon arrival at...

If your student or child will need some special attention while they are up at High Trails, whether it's behavioral, special food, or something else, please start by reading through all of the information on this page.

High Trails

Started in 2000, High Trails is a Big Bear based small business that focuses on residential outdoor education for California elementary and middle schools and their students. Each year we host more than 100 schools and 8,000 students as they visit us in the mountains for 3, 4 and 5 weekday programs. To date, we've had 115,000 students spend more than 400,000 nights at High Trails.
This single minded approach of focusing on only outdoor education has let us refine our program into what is now, we believe, the best natural outdoor science camp experience for your students. If you’re looking for a friendly, innovative and fresh approach to the world of outdoor education, come join us at High Trails Outdoor Science School; your very own dirty classroom.

Use your favorite weather source, and we're a combination of zip codes 92314 and 92305. Or you can see more weather details here.

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Contact

Mailing Address

Oakes Site: PO Box 2640, Big Bear City, CA 92314

Edwards Site: 42842 Jenks Lake Road East, Angelus Oaks, CA 92305

Main Office: PO Box 2640, Big Bear City, CA 92314

Telephone

Note to Parents and Guardians: if you have a question pertaining to your child’s visit to High Trails, please start by searching through this website. If your child has an issue you think we should know about, please read this page: Special Concerns Form. Please bear in mind that due to privacy and security issues, we do not disclose school site information to individuals. Telephone / Fax: 1 800 428-1851

Contact Us

Note to Parents and Guardians: if you are looking to work out some details or issues for your child's upcoming trip, please read the information on this page and use the Special Concerns Form to contact us.

Started in 2000, High Trails is a Big Bear based small business that focuses on residential outdoor education for California elementary and middle schools and their students. Each year we host more than 100 schools and 8,000 students as they visit us in the mountains for 3, 4 and 5 weekday programs. To date we’ve helped more than 100,000 students learn to love nature.
This single minded approach of focusing on only outdoor education has let us refine our program into what is now, we believe, the best natural outdoor science camp experience for your students. If you’re looking for a friendly, innovative and fresh approach to the world of outdoor education, come join us at High Trails Outdoor Science School; your very own dirty classroom.

Close

Contact

Contact Us

Mailing Address

Oakes Site: PO Box 2640, Big Bear City, CA 92314

Edwards Site: 42842 Jenks Lake Road East, Angelus Oaks, CA 92305

Main Office: PO Box 2640, Big Bear City, CA 92314

Telephone

Note to Parents and Guardians: if you have a question pertaining to your child’s visit to High Trails, please start by searching through this website. If your child has an issue you think we should know about, please read this page:

Note to Parents and Guardians: if you are looking to work out some details or issues for your child's upcoming trip, please read the information on this page and use the Special Concerns Form to contact us.